Expressions of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha and MicroRNA-155 in Immature Rat Model of Status Epilepticus and Children with Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Recently, the role of inflammation has attracted great attention in the pathogenesis of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), and microRNAs start to emerge as promising new players in MTLE pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the dynamic expression patterns of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and microRNA-155 (miR-155) in the hippocampi of an immature rat model of status epilepticus (SE) and children with MTLE. The expressions of TNF-α and miR-155 were significantly upregulated in the seizure-related acute and chronic stages of MTLE in the immature rat model and also in children with MTLE. Modulation of TNF-α expression, either by stimulation using myeloid-related protein (MRP8) or lipopolysaccharide or inhibition using lenalidomide on astrocytes, leads to similar dynamic changes in miR-155 expression. Our study is the first to focus on the dynamic expression pattern of miR-155 in the immature rat of SE lithium-pilocarpine model and children with MTLE and to detect their relationship at the astrocyte level. TNF-α and miR-155, having similar expression patterns in the three stages of MTLE development, and their relationship at the astrocyte level may suggest a direct interactive relationship during MTLE development. Therefore, modulation of the TNF-α/miR-155 axis may be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of MTLE.